Parents and
caregivers of young children sometimes lose patience
when it comes to giving children medicines. There are so
many on the market with terrible tastes and unpleasant
administration routes that some children refuse to take
them. All of this combined makes for harried parents and
caregivers alike.

Make sure
children understand the reasons they need to take
medications. Some children may have fears about
medication changing their personality or making them
different. By explaining the type of medication and the
part of the body or disease that it needs to affect,
children are more likely to comply with doctor’s orders
by taking their medicines.

Here are some
tips that should help with giving children medication.
Keep in mind that not all tips are applicable to your
personal situation. Find out from your child’s doctor
whether or not some medicines can be crushed or
administered with food or juices. Your pharmacist can
help with this too.

Liquid Medicines:

Liquid medication
is the standard for many children until they are old
enough to swallow pill form medication. In order to give
the correct dosage, make sure you’re using either a
measuring cup for liquid medicine or a dosing spoon or
syringe from the pharmacy. For example, if you need to
give 5 ml (1 tsp) of medicine, don’t just pour it into a
teaspoon from the kitchen drawer. Many of these spoons
contain slightly more than one teaspoon and some contain
less. You can request a dosage spoon or syringe from the
pharmacist, usually without cost. Most children’s
over-the-counter medicines come with a small cup that
measures medicine in several different units for parents
and caregivers to use.

There are many
liquid medications on the market today with unpleasant
tastes. Luckily, pharmacists have worked hard to develop
flavors to help mask the unpleasant tastes of some of
these medicines. The good news is that most children
like these flavors. The bad news is that not all flavors
work well with medicines and once you mix a flavor with
it (such as grape or banana), you can’t “undo” it. If
the child still hates the taste of the medicine, they
still need to take it despite its foul taste.

Many small babies
need a little coaxing to swallow medication. Usually
blowing a light puff of air in their face will cause
them to blink and swallow reflexively. Sometimes
chilling medication helps too. Check with your
pharmacist before you do this since refrigeration can
reduce the effectiveness of some medications. Finally,
you can try mixing the medication with a small amount of
liquid or food if it doesn’t alter the medication’s
effectiveness. Your pharmacist can tell you whether or
not this is possible.

Pill
Medications:

Many children
have difficulty swallowing pills depending on the size
of the pill. Reasons children have difficulty swallowing
range from physical maturity to emotional insecurities
about the medication. Check to see if there is a liquid
substitute for the medicine if possible. If there is not
a liquid substitute for the medicine, ask the doctor or
pharmacist if the pill can be crushed or broken into
pieces to make it easier to swallow.

Some parents use
M&M’s or other small candy to teach their child to
swallow pills. M&M’s come in “mini” sizes, too, to help
children work up to the size needed for the pill. Be
sure you keep track of the amount of candy your child is
eating while you’re doing this exercise.

Inhaled
Medications:

For asthmatics
and children with other breathing difficulties, many of
the medications used to treat their disease come in an
inhaled form. Metered dose inhalers use the same concept
as an aerosol spray can to deliver a medication mist
that can be inhaled. There are also several dry powder
inhalers on the market that are sometimes more difficult
for children to use since they need to inhale forcefully
in order to get the medication deep into the lungs.

There is simply
no substitute for proper training with inhalers and
children. Some physicians are reluctant to give a child
an inhaler until they are at least eight to ten years
old and prefer to use nebulized versions instead. A
nebulizer is a small electric machine that turns a
liquid medication into a fine mist.

When using a
nebulizer on a small child, it is best to distract them
as well as can be expected. Some doctors will allow
“blow by” treatments where the mist is blown in front of
the mouth and nose. Others insist that even infants use
a mask. If you can give blow by treatments to an infant
or toddler, sometimes putting them in a car seat or high
chair with a favorite toy or a few pieces of cereal can
help distract them from the medication. For older
children, it is best to use a mask in order to get more
of the medicine in their lungs. Using a favorite
coloring book and crayons when they receive breathing
treatments is often an incentive for children to sit
still for the ten to fifteen minutes needed to finish
the treatment.

If your physician
recommends an inhaler for your child, make sure that the
doctor’s office has trained your child and seen them use
it before you take the inhaler home. A spacer is a small
device that goes at the end of the inhaler that holds
the mist in the chamber, allowing your child to take
several deep breaths in order to help them get the
medication in their lungs. The child can take their time
between breaths and often feel they have more control
over the disease when they can take the medicine on
their own terms.

Injected
Medications:

Perhaps the most
feared medicine for children is the shot. Often children
who have chronic illnesses will fear shots more than any
other type of medication since shots associate physical
pain with the other complications of the disease. To
make it even more difficult, there are childhood
immunizations that may confuse children as to why they
need “sick” shots and “well” shots.

The best way to
help children with these shots is to stay calm and
relaxed yourself. Children, even small babies, can sense
an anxiety and know that anxiety is not often associated
with pain-free events. By staying calm, caregivers can
help children understand that shots are necessary, even
if they do hurt.

Don’t mislead
children into thinking that shots don’t hurt. They often
do. Explain that even if the shot hurts, it is necessary
in order to overcome an illness or protect them from
other diseases. Also, prepare children for needing a
shot, even before you get to the doctor’s office. For
children with chronic illnesses, they may receive
painful injections on a regular basis. By staying
prepared in advance, children may have less anxiety when
the needle actually appears in the exam room.

Finally, reward
the child when the experience is over. Reserve some
treats for those times when painful shots need to be
given so that the child feels special as a result. Even
though you don’t want to reward children every time they
take medicine, a special treat or visit to the park may
help when medicines can’t be administered in any other
way except through injection.

Regardless of the
type of medication needed for children, there is no
reason that parents or caregivers need to fear giving
them. Children, when they understand the reasons behind
the medication, can often be convinced to take their
medication relatively stress-free. If you are having an
especially difficult time giving medication to your
children, have the doctor talk to the children.
Sometimes, just hearing it from the doctor is enough to
get children to comply.